Empire Games by Charles Stross

Author:Charles Stross [Stross, Charles]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Tom Doherty Associates
Published: 0101-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

CAMP SINGULARITY, TIME LINE FOUR, JULY 2020

Camp Singularity was another DHS installation, a grim little cluster of prefab buildings huddled behind fences and surveillance cams that straddled the ridgeline of a forest valley. The trees were mostly conifers, dark green and spiny, and the weather was chill. A New England autumn transplanted to the latitude of Baltimore in early summer.

By early afternoon, Rita had been checked in and assigned sleeping quarters, and had caught a late lunch with Julie—not a terribly sociable affair, despite the latter’s attempts at conversation. As Rita deposited her tray at the collection point, Julie was checking her glasses. “Come on,” she said. “Time for the tour.”

There was a compact SUV waiting outside. Julie swung up into the driver’s seat; Rita took the passenger side. They bumped off toward the edge of the asphalt apron, then onto a dirt track that meandered toward the radar dishes and guard tower at the gatehouse. Rita finally cracked. “Is it far?”

“Just a couple of miles, but it’s a bumpy ride.”

“Why not put the camp on top of, of whatever it is we’re going to?”

“You’ll see.”

They bumped and jounced down a narrow trail between trees. Once Julie had to back up, then pull over to let a returning pickup truck swagger past, its load bed tarped down and bulging with something or other. The driver, Rita noted, was wearing battle dress and body armor. She suddenly felt underdressed, unprepared. She’d surreptitiously bookmarked the knotspace coordinates of the para-time transport facility back in Maryland, but this chilly, heavily wooded valley worried her. There was no telling whether she’d be able to jaunt back to Earth prime from this place if … if anything went wrong, God forbid.

Finally the track widened and turned out into a clear-cut dirt vehicle park. A low-loader bearing a huge generator squatted at one side, suckling on a fat pipe. “Okay, end of the road. We walk from here.” Julie parked beside a row of other cars. Rita climbed out and followed her to the checkpoint. The guards here were armored up, their helmet visors mirroring her approach. “Dr. Straker and Rita Douglas for Colonel Smith,” Julie called, holding up her ID badge. After a second, Rita followed suit.

“Approach and ID, ma’am.” The guard was politely impersonal, but kept his rifle ready and didn’t blink until Rita and Julie lit up green on the inside of his network terminal. “Okay, you can go right in.” He waved them past the barrier. “Ms. Douglas hasn’t been here before, have you? You’ll need to take her through the robing room, Dr. Straker.”

“I’ll do that,” Julie promised.

“Dr. Straker?” Rita asked, looking at her askance.

“Yes: archaeological science. Camp Singularity is my main posting. It’s where I did my PhD. Unfortunately my thesis is classified, otherwise I’d give you a copy…”

It was too much to absorb: bubble-headed blonde to DHS agent to scientist in one hour flat. “What was that about a robing room?” Rita asked, trailing after her.

“We need protective gear before we enter the dome—”

“The dome?”

Julie grinned at her.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.